Observation device



Jan. 21, 1941. H. SEILER OBSERVATION DEVICE Filed March 31, 1938 SWUQ/WTD'D Herman Seiler zzzzzz I Patented Jan. 21, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a device generally termed a peephole adapted to be applied to any closure such as a door, to enable a person from within to view the area adjacent the outer side of the closure without being in turn visible.

More particularly it is an aim of this invention to provide a device constructed to be readily applied to any door regardless of its thickness, and to be removably secured thereto; to be attractive in appearance, air-tight, soundproof and noiseless.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a peephole device, which cannot be removed from the outer side of the door, and which will contain means including the type of glass or lenses used, and the particular construction of the body portion proper, whereby visibility through the device is only possible when looking outwardly from the inner side thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing which illustrates a preferred form of the invention, and wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a door, looking at the outer side thereof, and having the invention mounted therein,

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the outer side oft-he device,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the difl'erent views, I0 designates generally a closure, such as a. door, shown to illustrate the protective observation device I I forming the invention.

The peephole II comprises a tubular member I2 formed of the inner and outer sections I3 and I4, respectively. The member I4 is annular and rounded on its outer side, with an annular flange I'5 projecting inwardly from its rear face, and adapted to extend into an opening It in the door I0. Member 14 engages the outer side of the door I0 around the opening I3.

The section I3 is disk shaped with an annular flange Il projecting from its inner face and spaced from its periphery, and sized to fit into the flange I5. Flanges I5 and H are threaded on their engaging sides to interengage each other, and are adapted to be tightened to clamp the sections I3 and I 4 in the opening N5 of the 7 door III. Gaskets I8 may be provided between sections I3 and I4 and the door I0 to make the device dirt and soundproof as well as noiseless. Section I4 is provided with a tapered bead I9, as best seen in Figure 4, adapted to engage a recess in door ID to prevent the turning of sec- 5 tion I4 relatively to the door so that the sections can only be disconnected by first removing section I3 which is on the inner side of the door.

A lens 20 is mounted in the section I4 as best seen in Figure 3, and is held in position by the 10 inner edge of said section, and by a spring ring 2I engaging the threaded portion of flange I5. Lens 20 comprises the two glass disks 22 and 23 which are arranged in abutting relationship, and between which is a coating 24 which reflects light. The lens is preferably provided with a suitable gasket seen at 25.

Disk I3 is provided with an opening 26, adapted to receive the annular flange 21 of an eyeshaped cup member 28 having a restricted open- 20 ing 29. Flange 21 and opening 26 are threaded to removably mount member 28 in section I3. A lens 30 of plain glass, is mounted in the flange 21 and adhesively secured thereto. The interior 3| of .the section 13 and likewise the exposed interior of sec-tion I 4 are suitably colored in a dark shade such as black or deep red. The exterior portions of sections I3 and I4 may be colored to correspond to the shade of the closure I0, and likewise the cup-shaped member 28.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a device as heretofore described has been provided which is adapted to be mounted on closures of various thicknesses, and which may readily be removed therefrom or applied. The processed lens 20 has a tendency to reflect light, so that by coloring the interior 3! as heretofore described, and by restricting opening 29 the interior 3! is kept at all times relatively dark so that there will be more light on the outer side of the door thereby preventing the person on the outside of the enclosure from looking through lenses 20 and 30 into the interior. On the other hand, the occupant of the enclosure may look through 4 opening 29 in lenses 30 and 20 to observe the area around the outer side of the door In Without in turn being visible to anyone outside of the enclosure.

Various modifications and changes in the construction of the peephole II can obviously be made and are contemplated, the invention as 11- lustrated being only a preferred form, and the right is therefore expressly reserved to make such changes and modifications as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the claim.

I claim as my invention:

A peephole for closures comprising a tubular member formed of sections adapted to be removably mounted in an opening of a door, one

of said sections comprising a ring mounted on the outer side of the door and having an annular flange extending into said opening, said other section comprising a plate mounted on the inner side of the door and having an annular flange extending into said first mentioned flange, the engaging faces of said flanges being screw threaded for detachably connecting the sections, a laminated lens mounted in the tubular member between the ring and last mentioned flange, said lens having a light reflecting coating intermediate of its inner and outer sides, said plate having a rwtricted threaded opening: a concave eye-shaped member having an annular external- 1y threaded shank, for engaging said opening, and a restricted opening extending therethrough, a lens mounted in said shank and disposed over the inner end of. [the last mentioned opening, and said tubular member having its interior coated with a dark material for darkening the interior of the tubular member, the darkened interior cooperating with the mtricted Qpenfing of the concave eye-shaped member to provide a darkened background for the laminated lens whereby the light on the outer side of the door will be reflected.

HERMAN SEHER. 

